Welcome White Belts

If you haven't already you will need to Warm Up and Stretch .Today you start a lifelong journey in Hapkido. Without further ado lets begin!Physical power in Hapkido is mostly derived from the ground. Though seemingly mundane, footwork and balance, are often the difference between a successful technique and disaster. This is Left Fighting Stance. We sometimes call this one walking stance as I will explain later. It is a left stance because the left foot is forward.

Why do they call it Walking Stance?

They sometimes call fighting stance a walking stance because when you move forward or backwards your feet move in the pattern that the Knight walks on the Chess board.The feet at the bottom left are in Right Fighting Stance because the right foot is forward. As we move forward towards the top of our picture the arcs represent the motion of the feet. To transition from the bottom set in Right Fighting Stance to the next set up in Left Fighting Stance you simply slide the left foot along the blue arc.

It is important to note that you are in fact sliding your feet, not raising and lowering them. The motion is designed to sweep objects on the ground out of your way while you move. If you master Walking Stance you may never stub your toe again in a darkened room.

Lets Try it!

At this time I want you to walk from one of the room to the other in walking stance! If you want to test yourself scatter several harmless objects like tennis balls on the floor in your path. A good stationary walking stance has your front knee bent and your back leg nearly strait. Your hips and torso should be facing forward even though your back foot is at an angle.

The Physics Behind Fighting Stances

Why do Martial artists in movies stand all crazy? Well the short answer is they were taught to! The long answer is that fighting stances are what make all martial arts moves possible. Every single kick, punch, and throw will always have a stance attached to it. Before you learn to stand and fight you must learn to simply stand without falling down. No stance is invulnerable and each stance has it's weaknesses. I will teach you how to recognize a good stance and also how to exploit any stance for your own benefit. For if you can put your attacker down and stay on your feet you have just given yourself an edge. One might say the point of all fighting skill is to put yourself in a strong position whilst putting the opponent in a weak position.All fighting stances no matter which martial art seek to find the a balance between Stability and Mobility. The image below shows us a sturdy 'L' Stance on the left and a nimble western boxing stance on the right. Your recently learned Walking Stance is somewhere in the middle.

Which is best? None of them are best, in the same way that none of them are worst. View them as tools. Let us say that in your toolbox you have a 1/2 inch wrench and a 3/4 inch wrench. Neither is best and both are useful for slightly different jobs. So why is the 'L' Stance more stable than the other two? For two factors, first the feet are spread wide apart, this lends stability in the same way that a pyramid is more stable than a stop sign. Which structure would better survive a tornado do you think? So factor one is width of stance.

The second factor is Center of Gravity. Your center of gravity is some where between your belt line and your navel. When you squat low in an 'L' Stance your center of gravity is also lower. Have you ever played with a punching inflatable clown toy? No matter how hard you hit the clown it just pops back up again. This is because all the weight is in the base of the toy. It has an extremely low center of gravity.

What experienced fighters know is that some situations demand stability; such as throwing an attacker. Some situations demand mobility; such as dodging a barrage of fists and feet. Ultimate mobility is simply running away!

The ovals represent the center of gravity. Red is more mobile and Blue is more stable.

Master's Commentary on Balance Disruption

'L' Stance

This is 'L' Stance. It is called that because if you were to draw a line through the feet it would make an 'L' shape. Unlike Walking stance 'L' stance has both knees bent and the weight distribution is 60% on the back foot and 40% on the front foot.'L' Stance has a wide variety of uses. It is especially useful for executing throws and for kicking from the front leg.

Practical Exercise: Travel the length of a room in walking stance forwards and then travel it backwards.